NORTON, Mass. – PGA Tour rookie Scottie Scheffler‘s wild week took another turn Sunday in the final round of The Northern Trust when his caddie, Scott McGuinness, went down in the ninth fairway with a leg injury and had to be carted off the golf course.
Eric Ledbetter, one of the assistant golf professionals at TPC Boston, was soon handed the caddie bib and took over on the bag the rest of the way on a day when temperatures hovered in the high 80s. Ledbetter, wearing pants while the rest of the caddies had on shorts, grabbed a bottle of water and headed off to join Scheffler on the 10th tee.
It became clear McGuinness was struggling as the second-to-last group of the day approached the ninth green. McGuinness was hobbling, before eventually sitting down in the fairway. Scheffler and playing partner Louis Oosthuizen finished out the hole while medical staff checked on McGuinness.
According to a PGA Tour official, McGuinness jumped in the ninth fairway for a better look up ahead and felt something pop when he landed. He is expected to be re-evaluated on Monday.
Oosthuizen’s caddie, Phil Lowe, grabbed both golf bags and carried them to the 10th tee until Ledbetter took over. Scheffler immediately made bogey at the 10th before settling in with consecutive pars at Nos. 11 and 12 and a birdie at the 13th.
It has been far from boring for the 24-year-old Scheffler since he arrived on site this week. On Friday, he became just the 11th player in history – and second-youngest ever – to shoot 59 or better on the PGA Tour. He said he spent most of Friday and Saturday checking text messages.
“Got a few hundred,” he said.
He followed that up with a with an even-par 71 on Saturday, falling off the hot pace set by Johnson.